


hedgehog system

by Leutik



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Strip Chess, but apparently its a whole thing, chess au, except the power of being that cute excuse me??, just without powers, kara is still supergirl with the secret identity, living under a rock i thought i invented it, loved finding out honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28981446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leutik/pseuds/Leutik
Summary: lena is national chess champion. she plays against supergirl. lena owns a sort of chess company. kara is her secretary.the supercorp x the queen’s gambit i hope someone was waiting for
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	hedgehog system

Lena knew where the nickname “Supergirl” came from. It was gaudy and it was tasteless, and Lena hoped that her opponent didn’t self-proclaim “the supergirl of chess”.   
Either way, if the woman truly was that gifted as they said, or if it all was just a show, she could only find out that night.   
Because Lena Luthor was a professional chess player, and that night the national chess tournament would take place.

Kara heard a lot of things about the Luthor lineage: most of them played dirty, when it came to chess. They drugged their opponents just before matches, and at times, homicides happened. They drained them psychologically, to the point where some of their rivals took their own life.   
Kara heard a lot of things, and she hoped with her whole heart those were just rumors. The evidence always seemed to be ambiguous, and the media who spread those kinds of news were always gossip-ish magazines, instead of proper journalism. But Kara knew Lena, and she knew that even if those rumors were true, they didn’t apply to her. That’s why she was positive she was going to be okay, that night. She truly couldn’t wait, having finally the opportunity to play against her.

The room was identical to how it looked for the past week: the fact that it was the final match, and that both Supergirl and Luthor single-handedly destroyed their opponents until that moment couldn’t be seen anywhere. It was moderate, much like chess itself. The celebrations had to wait until later that night, or the next day, if they adjourned.   
Both of them knew there was a high chance for that scenario to happen.   
Of course they came prepared: Lena studied every single match Supergirl played before, saw what her favourite openings were, what her middlegame strategies went for, how she approached the endgame. Quite surprisingly, Supergirl appeared on the chess scene a little longer than a year ago, and collected wins after wins ever since. She was undefeated, much like Lena was. Their differences were that Lena signed up with her own name, put her face on it, and had her fair share of public losses.   
Kara, on the other hand, knew how Lena played as if she was inside her head. Lena taught her how to, and her ability to dissociate while playing, that was what would guarantee Kara’s win, that night.

They just shook hands. Sat in that wide, dimly lighted, crowded room. In its center, as if they were circus animals in a cage, five foot of distance from anyone else. They looked in each other’s eyes, green and blue, and that was it. Their combative looks spoke for themselves, and they knew who the other was: needed no introductions.

Kara nodded silently, indicating she would let Lena pick the towers to determine which colour they would play. Supergirl picked white, so she would start.   
Lena waited for her, as Supergirl looked at the board. She could tell that Lena was impatient. She wanted to get it over with, she wanted to win. She was cold and calculative, and it showed how Lena took that as her  _ job _ . Because it was, indeed. A job she was virtually perfect at, at this moment. Kara wanted to play as well, but not to win: she wanted to taste each and every move. She wanted to impress Lena Luthor. She wanted to go down with a fight, to give her a hard time. She wanted to be unmasked, and she wanted Lena to find out who she was.   
So she closed her eyes for a second and inhaled. Then, she touched her pawn in e2.

So Supergirl chose to start with a King’s gambit. There were plenty of ways to answer that. Lena could countergambit. She could accept it or refuse it. She could ignore it and play from one of the corners. It had just started, and Lena was already feeling that light anxiety working up inside of her, from the back of her head to the pit of her stomach. Knight in f6.

Lena’s counter move broke Kara’s plan to carry on developing the gambit, so she moved her pawn to b3.   
Lena saw from a mile away how Supergirl was planning on taking her knight with her bishop. Bishops were Lena’s favourite piece, the strongest after the queen in her opinion, despite the conventional classification, so she would gladly let Supergirl trade the two pieces. She just needed not to move the two paws that would take the white bishop, and she could start working on taking the two central rows instead. So Lena moved her pawn to b5 instead.   
Kara moved her bishop to b2 anyway, and Lena wondered if it was a distraction instead. If she would stop the bishop in the middle of the board next, taking one of the central rows, gaining the middle game.   
They literally just started though. Lena didn’t need to play mind games with herself right now - she was just overestimating her, too conscious of that stupid little title. Lena moved her own bishop to b7, and it looked a bit like copying, but that was the best move she could make.

Kara forced herself to play in the most aggressive style she could, as if dressing with a different facade, with a confidence she lost as soon as she got rid of her Supergirl name. So she went to e5 with her bishop.   
That was almost too easy, and Lena pondered for a moment if she was missing something. Pawn to d6, and she was threatening one of the strongest pieces Supergirl possessed.

Kara looked at Lena’s expression, finding that so familiar restrained smile under pressed lips. She knew Lena wanted to smile, to compliment herself, to dwell on that sense of security and control. She knew it because Kara saw it so many times unrestrained and free, displayed with before her eyes, as Lena trained her. Kara would miss on purpose, just to see her like that. But now they were professionals, and Lena was convinced she was playing against a stranger. So Kara had to choose: to take Lena’s knight, or to play defensive. But since Kara would play defensive, Supergirl had to be as reckless as she had been up to that point.

Lena wasn’t sure what to take Kara’s pawn with. To leave space for her queen to move, or for her bishop? Kara knew what she would do, because bishops were Lena’s favourite pieces. She knew, and she failed to contain a smile, as Lena took her bishop with the pawn on g7.

« What’s so funny? » Lena asked her.

« Nothing, ma’am. » Kara answered, forcing her voice to go as deep as she could. As confident as she could. As if she owned the game, as if she wasn’t playing as irrational as she could, because she knew full well that rationality was Lena’s field.

So Kara moved her king’s bishop, the bishop which could only move on white squares, to b5, checking Lena’s king.   
Lena could only do so many things at that point, so she chose the safest play and sacrificed her pawn, so that she would take Supergirl’s now only bishop too with her own or her knight, and simultaneously, if Supergirl played defensive, she’d regain the middle rows.

Except Kara stubbornly chose not to play defensive, and moved her queen to e2. It was way early in the game to move the queen or the rooks, but that was she forced Lena to sacrifice a bigger piece next, after giving up her other bishop too.   
But Lena put her bishop to a6, moving the game further from her king, where her knight could reach.   
So that now Kara could lose her bishop or her queen. She went for the first, of course, and soon both of Kara’s bishops were gone, but Lena lost both of her knights, a pawn and a bishop.

It was still early. Lena could force a trade of queens. And, judging by how Supergirl had played until then, she would accept the trade. She went in offensive mode, instead, moving the attention to the other side of the board, as she moved her king bishop to h6. Supergirl worked her way to create alternate positions with her pawns, as if those were furzepig’s spines

It took Lena less than ten moves to turn the tables. She caught both of Supergirl’s knights, her bishop and a pawn. Her own queen was checking Supergirl’s, and Kara knew it was almost over. Her irrationality put Lena off in the beginning, as it almost looked she was a rookie. But the Lena she knew quickly caught up with her tactics, and analyzed the unanalyzable in her moves. Kara went for a trade of queen, knowing that Lena wouldn’t accept it. Lena threatened Supergirl’s king rook instead, and in other three moves, she worked her way to checkmate Supergirl’s king. Except, Kara knew when to resign, and after yet another exemplary move from the Luthor’s part, she held her hand in mid-air.

Lena accepted it, her face of steel neutrality. Kara could tell she was tired. She could tell she wasn’t pleased with the game, and Kara couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t pleased with her own or with Supergirl’s.

Lena Luthor was nominated the United States’ national champion for the seventh time in a row, that night, on her way to fight for the international title in Switzerland. She got in the final match for the last three years, but her anxiety always got in the way. Lena wasn’t easy on herself, and that was why she knew she had to blame her mistakes on her emotional state, because playing back those exact same matches in different contexts always led her to win. She had to work on that, she knew.   
But that Supergirl put her in a corner like it never happened before, and the worse thing was that Lena knew she played bad on purpose, during the second half of the game. She just knew it. Her moves were made too quickly, as if she was bored and already decided to lose. It drove her crazy. She knew she had a concrete, big fat chance of losing, that night. And yet, that stranger, that  _ Supergirl  _ chose to act out of kindness.   
But Lena loved chess because it was logical, it was a sixty-four squares world, ruled by precise and known rules. With exactly one exception, that was castling.

The next morning, at the Luthor Chess Corp, her employers knew better than to celebrate the second they saw her expression. Lena noticed the banners, the obnoxious signs, the accomplished looks. She noticed them and she felt like throwing up, because she didn’t deserve it. She was an impostor, she knew, put on her knees and given mercy by someone she never even spoke to.   
It was even crazier, how Lena looked for Supergirl right after they handed over their forms, but she just disappeared.

Her secretary knocked on her office’s already open door, and brought her a coffee.   
At least she had Kara.

« How did last night go? » Kara asked her. She knew how it went, of course, and still she had no idea how letting her hair down, not wearing her glasses and wearing some makeup instead made her look like a whole different person in Lena’s eyes. Her change of clothes helped too perhaps, she thought as she lightly fidgeted with the wrist of her button-up.

Lena sighed, as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Kara laughed, « Such a bad reaction for winning the national title, Miss Luthor. »

« You know you can call me Lena even if the door is open, right? »

Kara ducked her head, as she muttered: « Right. » but went to close the door anyway.   
And just with that, their privacy felt restored, lost in their little bubble, as Lena’s shoulders lost some of their tension too.

« I just don’t- I don’t understand why- oh, screw it, I don’t even know myself. » Lena tried explaining, before making a gesture with her hands as if dismissing the subject, and taking gratefully the coffee in her hands instead. « Thank you, anyway. »

Kara just smiled, « It’s no problem. » and it really wasn’t, it was a pleasure instead, because Lena truly was Kara’s closest friend. As sad as it sounded, considering their work dynamic, and the fact that Kara’s only other close friend was her sister, who was quite busy on her own.

Kara just wanted to do everything she could for Lena. And little she knew how Lena felt the same, because what she meant to say was that Lena didn’t really care about a stupid title, and neither she cared about playing against grandmasters. She lost interest in those power games the moment she played against Kara for the first time: for the first time she started associating what she was best at, that was playing chess, with Kara’s sweet sweet laughs, and that butterfly sensation Lena got from listening to them.

That was why Lena asked Kara: « Do you want to play with me? »

Kara huffed a laugh, because: « You’re quite tireless, aren’t you. » But sat in front of her nonetheless, as Lena laid her expensive chessboard, branded by her Corporation signature, of course.

The Luthor Chess Corp, LCC for short, was quite an interesting service provider. Kara was fascinated by the idea ever since she started working for Lena, five years ago. It offered training in chess learning, it had its line of chess boards and pieces that came in different materials, colours, were horizontal, vertical and magnetic, or even upside down to project the game on the ceiling. Lena wrote a best-selling book too, that Kara devoured the week before her job interview at the Luthor Chess Corp, about the philosophy behind chess games.

But Kara got to know Lena, got to break her front walls and slip in, got to be her first true friend. And with that, she learned that she was so much more than the celebrity crush Kara was unconscious of having. She was a well-rounded person, filled with flaws and insecurities, that Kara was patiently dealing with, and had a mission to take care of.   
And because theirs wasn’t a one-way relationship, Kara saw the good spending time with Lena did to her own life.

« I need a favour, Kara. » Was Lena’s incipit, a month later or so. She was training for the world championship, but all her efforts were falling flat, as she knew by heart who she was going to compete against. Both her and Kara knew that she didn’t need to work on her technique, she needed to work on keeping a cold mind - but neither of them knew how.

Kara just hummed, signaling she was listening to her.

« I need you to find Supergirl’s contact for me. »

Kara coughed, taken by surprise, because- what? « What do you need it for? »

« I need to know why she let me win. To prepare for the world championship. »

Of course that was the reason, and Kara could have caught up on that. It was just such a weird request, and Kara made sure to sign Supergirl up for her to be unreachable by anyone. So how would she explain that she, mediocre Kara Danvers, got Supergirl’s contact? Kara knew that if she said that out loud, that “mediocre”, Lena would punch her in the face for insulting herself.

« I’ll try. » 

Because Kara really didn’t know how to make it look believable that she, a common secretary, managed to find a mysterious chess players’ contact, she decided to play it in reverse and have Supergirl visit Lena.

It was a late evening of a week later, when Lena saw her standing by the doorframe of her office. Kara knew that she had to be extra in-incognito, since Lena would see her in the environment they were the most familiar with: that was why she was wearing that ridiculously short dress, that heavy makeup on her eyes, that cheap but sweet perfume she just bought to cover the scent of her shampoo.   
She was a bit extra, even more than the night of the championship, and Lena was impressed. She was a stunning woman, she had to admit. Alright, she was hot. And she came in her own office, that late at night, wearing that confident smile for what?

« Supergirl. What do I owe the pleasure? »

Kara knew she had to draw a sharp contrast with her usual self. And her usual self was well aware of where Lena’s body was, perennially, because they were  _ friends _ , and that was the effect friends had on each other, right? So Kara had to be someone else that night, because they weren’t going to play chess - not for the moment, at least. She had the opportunity to be who she  _ wanted  _ to be around Lena.

« Miss Luthor, » And truly, Kara slapped herself internally, because that was how  _ she  _ greeted her - but Supergirl was a stranger to her, so it could be believable. « Rumor has it you’re preparing for Switzerland. »

« I am, indeed. » It was only logical, and there was no need to blame the rumors, so Lena was even more intrigued by Supergirl’s choice of words. As if she deliberately chose to look as if she lived under a rock.

Kara stayed there, swinging a bit on her heels she was already quite unstable on, before saying: « So, I came here to ask you if you wanted any help with your training. »

Lena raised a brow at that. « As if I didn’t beat you. »

But because Kara knew that Lena knew that she let her win, she admitted: « As if I didn’t let you win. »

Lena muttered to herself: « I knew it. », in such a way that let Kara know that she was joking, and she was being  _ flirty  _ with her. With her! Well, not her. With Supergirl. But still, that was such a weird notion, that for some reason stuck a painful smile on her face for the rest of the evening.

« Do you have any questions? » Kara asked.

« Would you like something to drink, first? » And with that, they settled on Lena’s white coach, each a drink in hand.

« Why did you let me win? » Was the first of Lena’s answers, straight to the point.

Kara knew that a good lie had to be ninety percent true, so she answered: « Because I admire you, and I know you’re more deserving of the role, and you’ll do better at the world’s games. Also, you would have won nonetheless. Just, more slowly. »

Lena looked at that with those emerald eyes of her, as if talking to an adult, and suddenly Kara felt very stupid. Because it took her to create a whole different identity to be looked at like that by Lena. And perhaps, because she did, she buried herself with her own hands.

« So, do you want to play? » Lena asked her.

« You mean, regular chess? »

« What else? Speed chess? »

It would have been good for Lena’s emotional training, in view of the world’s games. But before Kara could agree, Lena started listing alternatives: « Alcoholic chess? Strip chess? Four players chess? »

Kara straight up choked on herself because- what? Lena never proposed to her to play those, she just casually mentioned speed chess once, and that was it. Also, they were only two-

« Cat got your tongue? » Was Lena’s prodding, with a light chuckle, and it sent shivers down Kara’s spine.

So Kara just blinked and smiled, at a loss of words. « Whatever the host wishes for. »

Lena smiled devilishly, and that was how they both found themselves drinking a shot every time one of their pieces got taken by the opponent.

It was the morning after that, when Lena casually commented, as Kara left her schedule for the day on her desk: « Supergirl visited me, after all. You can drop your investigations, thank you Kara. »

It was almost cold, and Kara hated how she instantly felt  _ jealous  _ of herself - what the fuck?

So she forced a tight smile and asked: « Oh, she did? » With the fakest surprise she could master.

Lena just smiled, as she fiddled with some papers on her desk. « She’s- she’s actually quite nice. She reminds me of you, you know. » Lena told her.

And Lena kept to herself how much she reminded her of Kara: how that Supergirl embodied every inappropriate dream she found herself have, in the most recent years of their friendship, on Kara. It was easy, because there were no attachments. Supergirl sold herself with that appearance too and that almost plastic confidence, Lena was sure she could get something out of. She was positive she could never nurture the feelings she had for her best friend, as she wasn’t even sure it was even worth trying to date at that point. But she could at least act on her fantasies with a stranger, if said stranger was consentient and they looked  _ so  _ alike.   
Lena had been quite sure of her feelings for a while now, indeed. And she had never been quite good with labels, so she truly had no idea if her feelings were just of affection, very strong ones, for the first true friend - coming from a place of loneliness and neglect - or if there was something else. Something deeper. Something romantic. And she had no idea if Kara felt that strongly about their friendship either, so truly, all Lena could do was just living one day at a time, and see how things evolved.

Kara looked so surprised, almost on the verge of fear, when she replied: « She does? » Chuckling nervously after, « Well, I’ve never seen her, so I wouldn’t know- »

« Didn’t you look up for her contacts? »

« Uhm, well, yes- » Kara knew that she would only dig her hole deeper, so she tried diverting the conversation.

Supergirl came back to visit, a little longer than a week later, after all. Because as much as Kara was messing up, with that whole double-identities thing, she also got addicted in only one sitting to Lena’s flirty attention.

So she was back in her office, and Lena was asking her if she wanted to see the chess collection had at her own apartment, and Kara had been at Lena’s place already, but she said yes nonetheless. Because her private collection truly was impressive, all handmade wooden crafted pieces in various scale sizes, full of details.

« I bought this one in Delhi. Actually, there’s quite the story behind this one- » And as Lena started to tell it, one of the most interesting stories Kara has ever heard - as well as one she heard a million times already - Lena pointed at the rook Kara was holding, and by doing so, she brushed her knuckles against Kara’s palms.

It was very slight, but Kara was a hundred percent certain that something shifted immediately. As if they moved from one territory to another, from telling the fun story to using that as a background for more “accidental” touching.

Kara knew that when Lena wanted something, she took it. And that night, apparently, Lena wanted Supergirl, because after a bit of bantering on why Lena’s fireplace was so close to her windowed-wall, losing all its meaning, - a discussion her and Kara had a million times already, but Kara was careless at this point, only focused on Lena - Lena asked her if she wanted to play with her.

« Again? »

« Strip chess, this time. »

Kara agreed to it, and she told herself she did just because she could, and it was something Lena wanted, apparently. So they found themselves lose a piece of clothing each time they lost a piece, to the point where, by the time Lena made her checkmate, Kara was only left in suit pants and her bra, while Lena was left in her shirt, underwear and stockings. Their jackets, jewelry, Kara’s watch, Kara’s shirt and Lena’s skirt was staring back at them from the carpet. Lena thought it was a good idea to take her skirt off first, because they were sitting, but now, well, now she had to put the pieces in their place, and gather her things.

But the way Supergirl was looking at her - midway between famelic and in adoration - that was something that felt so deeply familiar. It faintly looked like Kara looked, after she did something slightly out of the ordinary. She looked like Kara did, after she taught her how to get out of compromising situations, on the board. She looked like Kara looked, when they went somewhere together, and Lena bought her everything she could, just because she could - and because Kara wanted it, but wouldn’t ask.

And, well. When they stood up, Kara meaning to bring Lena her things, Lena meaning to get it over with as quickly as possible, they slightly bumped heads with each other. They held their foreheads, chuckling, said their apologies and waited. Staring. Lena could see how Supergirl was just as tall as Kara was.

So Lena put a hand on her neck. She did, and she got closer, but she did that slowly. Asking for permission, with her distance and with her explicit: « Is this okay? »

Of course Kara nodded frantically, because Lena and she were friends, but- well, friends didn’t- but she wasn’t Kara now, was she? She was Supergirl, so she could indulge, and after it was done she could know a bit more about her friend. It was for science.

So Lena got on her toes, held on Kara’s shoulder and her neck, as she pressed her lips against hers. Moving them, opening them, licking them. Kara felt her knees tremble, and by the proximity, Lena could swear she smelled Kara’s perfume on Supergirl. If she closed her eyes - which she did - she pictured her secretary, behind her eyelids. But when Lena slightly opened her eyes, while catching breath, before going back to kissing, she didn’t need to picture her. She had the precise image right before her.

So Lena took Kara’s hands that were respectfully holding her, one on her waist and the other on her lower back, and put them in front of her, to guide her to unbutton her shirt. And, again, she asked: « Is this- »

« It is, it’s- it’s okay. » Kara answered before she could finish the question, and she went straight to autopilot. Kissing Lena’s neck, holding her up, bringing them both to the nearest surface.

But when Lena took Kara’s hand and guided it  _ there _ , Kara froze. She would have continued, mind foggy, if Lena hadn’t muttered her own name, mindlessly. Because Lena just let loose, Kara’s name was pronounced. And Kara, or Supergirl, or whatever, felt shaking. As if someone twisted her stomach and let it crumpled. So the first thing she did, because she was actively lying to her, as she was asked to  _ fuck  _ her, she stopped.

« Lena. »

« What? » And Lena’s tone came out needy, closer to a moan than a word, and selfishly Kara asked herself how immoral of her would have been to just keep going.   
But Lena was the person she cared the most, so she firmly, or as firmly as she could, answered: « I have to tell you something. »

It was fucked up, how Lena knew exactly what Supergirl was going to say. But she just stared back at her, those green eyes looking as deep as ever, pushing Kara further into guilt.

But Kara didn’t know how to put it, and the game had been going a tad too far even for her, so Lena helped her out: « Is this about a last-minute identity confession? »

It was weirdly specific, but not enough, so Kara still said it: « It’s a bit unprofessional of me, Miss Luthor. »

Lena had had the doubt from the moment she saw Supergirl’s first match. But she couldn’t be sure, not until that night. Because Supergirl’s style of playing was way too complementary to Kara’s, and because, in the confusion of the nakedness strip poker implied, Supergirl slipped back into Kara’s defensive style of play. That was when she chose to undress in front of her, and be touched by her. Because as fucked up as that was, becoming an accomplice to Kara’s lies, Lena too hoped to ride the occasion.

« I knew, you know. » 

« I’m sorry. »

« You should have told me. »

« I know. »

« Why did you make all this? You could have signed up as yourself. »

But the answer went further than just fucking, or being friends, or being colleagues. So Kara just kissed her, as they both worked their way to checkmate the other.

Lena’s favourite piece was the bishop, and Kara’s favourite defence was the hedgehog system. It wasn’t nearly as fancy as every other maneuver, but it was simple, and it gave great power to the pawns: pieces that were otherwise weak. It was a force that came from building, and collaboration, patience and trust, even, the player had to nurture towards them. And it reflected so, so well their relationship, where the single parties, taken alone, were broken and in pain - that Kara only saw fit to love that defence, above any other.

« Because I wanted to hedgehog you, just once. » 

**Author's Note:**

> so, the original plan for this was way more ambitious: it had to be a long ass multichapter, where lena and supergirl were enemies fighting for the world champion title (but then one of them had to come from somewhere else, or even the alternative was for chess to be an inter-planetarian game, and lena was the world's champion, while supergirl was kripton's)  
> and lena would meet kara like halfway through or something.  
> but knowing me and my inconsistency, this was more than enough to pay my little tribute to one of my favourite fictional couples.


End file.
